I cannot recall how many times I have heard the words "You cannot rely on others. You can only rely on yourself." thrown at me.
I always thought to myself, "What a wonderful concept. Pure Individualism" but the more and more I dwelled on the thought the more I watched it vanish in my mind.
The dictionary defines an individual as such:
1. a single human being, as distinguished from a group.
2. a person: a strange individual.
3. a distinct, indivisible entity; a single thing, being, instance, or item.
4. a group considered as a unit.
5. Biology .
a. a single organism capable of independent existence.
b. a member of a compound organism or colony.
Are we able to rely only upon ourselves?
In our modern day society in one form or another I believe we MUST rely on others. This, however, has become a propagating system. A system in which we are unable to focus solely on progressing as an individual but having to re-leave and/or take on burdens within a constant chain of merely being connected to another party. Visa Vi; a friend, family member, boss, loved one, acquaintance, enemy, etc. This system came with the advance in population. The more people around you the more attached to you they become. In our society we are not afforded the right to just be oneself. We are more or less given the illusion that making small insignificant choices like what type of clothing we wear, music we listen to, cars we drive, books we read, etc. grants us the right to be a full blown individual. This however is far from the case. To be an individual is to be completely free of any attachment outside of the being in question. To not be attached to said parties is an absolute impossibility these days and therefore we must be detached, worried, nervous, paranoid, and sometimes edgy over the fact that we may be affecting another person in a negative or positive way, which in ALL cases is inevitable. This reflection on the state we leave other people in after even something as basic as having a conversation has forced the mind out of the individualist stand point and into what I want to call an analytical group absorption. Our minds are now constantly processing information regarding how people will react to certain situations, how they will respond to certain questions or remarks, trying to comprehend what they are doing when they are not around you. It is almost dividing the brain into multiple portions based on the human beings you have come into contact with or live around on the average day.
Not a soul in this modern day world of ours will be able to rule himself or herself as a single, self propelled entity. The upper class will rule over the middle class and must rely on each other as well as the middle class to stay in its place of power. The middle class must rely on the upper class to either progress towards that level or remain in that current status. The poor must rely on all of the above in order to survive with the bare minimum or progress upwards toward the middle and upper class systems.
Bringing it down to a more personal level you will find the same cycles in effect. As an example one could choose to open up a business. Unless this individual was born into mass amounts of wealth they could not do so without consulting a bank to take out a loan, or bringing in a partner to help with expenditures. Another example would be the path of an artist. That art could be anything from being a musician, painter, writer, what have you. Although you are creating something that comes solely from the basis of the individual they must rely on others to appreciate what it is they are putting out there and so once again we have stumbled back onto the reliance of others to invade the individualist theory.
gov·ern·ment/ˈgəvər(n)mənt/:
1. The governing body of a nation, state, or community.
2. The system by which a nation, state, or community is governed.
The mere fact that we live under a governed structure defies the purpose of attempting to be individualistic. With this power in place comes the controlled direction of ones free will. If you do not agree with a governments set of laws you will be chastised and punished... In other words, forced to become part of the 'god-head'. The premise of governing is to abolish the principal of the individual. If you refer back to the point I made about upper, middle class, and the poor you have to understand that every politician and political party in power are there because they have the monetary gain to do so. They are the upper class. None the less, because of the system in play they must also follow the rules cast among them. In no way are they any more individualistic as we. No matter how badly they strive to think so.
Do not let the idea of free will confuse you.
We have become platforms on a step ladder leading to another set of step ladders. A constant chain of cycles with the pretend notion that you can live off of nothing but yourself. And as Jean Paul Sartre once wrote "Obviously, Freedom as the definition of a man does not depend upon others but once there is a commitment, I am obliged to will the liberty of others at the same time as mine." This is something that we should be well aware of. This is the illusion of individualism.
